Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The latest from London: “The detonation of a device aboard a subway train in the British capital on Friday was being investigated as terrorism, police said. Authorities confirmed 29 people had been injured at Parsons Green Tube station in southwest London. None of their wounds — mostly superficial burns — were considered serious or life-threatening.”
* North Korea earlier today “fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japanese airspace before crashing into the Pacific Ocean, South Korean and U.S. military officials said.”
* Keep an eye on this one: “The Department of Homeland Security on Friday released the names of only 22 visitors to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, despite being ordered to make its full visitor list public after being sued by watchdog groups.”
* There’s a phrase we haven’t heard in a while: “Almost nothing is publicly known about the American ISIS fighter who is now in the custody of the U.S. military, but one fact has already made the case extraordinary: The Trump Administration has declared him an enemy combatant, according to a military spokesman.”
* It’s been quite a hurricane season, and we’re only halfway through it: “Jose has re-strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic, but there is no current threat to land.”
* Zero bare counties: “Anthem Inc. reversed course and said it will offer Obamacare plans in Virginia, after a pullback by another insurer threatened to leave the state with large gaps in coverage.”
* This seems like a problem: “In the days leading up to Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, when his soon-to-be national security adviser Michael Flynn was reportedly pushing a multibillion-dollar deal to build nuclear reactors in Jordan and other Middle East nations, Flynn and two other top Trump advisers held a secret meeting with the king of Jordan.”
* I continue to find this stunning: “Until this week, when we asked Facebook about it, the world’s largest social network enabled advertisers to direct their pitches to the news feeds of almost 2,300 people who expressed interest in the topics of ‘Jew hater,’ ‘How to burn jews,’ or, ‘History of ‘why jews ruin the world.”” * Stories like these really get to me: “A white security officer told police he was shot by a black man. Turns out, he’d shot himself, police say.” * Imagine having lived in isolation for the entirety of Trump’s presidency to date: “After eight months of living in isolation on a remote Hawaii volcano, six NASA-backed research subjects will emerge from their Mars-like habitat on Sunday and return to civilization.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
